At 02:56 PM 8/1/2002 +1000, you wrote:
>Sun-up at Shelly Beach this morning was straight out of one of those exotic
>holiday brochures.  The sand leading down to the water had been freshly
>turned by the Council's tractor-thingy that picks up any rubbish; the sea
>was calm - but with a heavy ground-swell; the trees and palms looked
>magnificent in the early sunlight; and there was hardly a cloud to be seen.
>All in all it wasn't a bad place to be on a mid-winter's day!  :-)

Or a mid-summer's day!  I've been bustin' my butt harder than usual at work
this summer and haven't even had time to sneeze.  For two minutes this
morning I did a dive at Shelly Beach and I feel much better.   Thanks buddy.
-Mark B.


>Janet, Julian, Dave and myself tumbled into the water, that has risen a
>whole degree in the past week and now stands at 17 deg. C.  Vis in the
>shallow areas was about 25-metres dropping to about 10-metres round at
>'Dragon Patches'.  This is the time of the year when the Port Jackson sharks
>come in to breed.  We saw about ten of them.  All quite active and a little
>skittish - especially when you try and poke a camera into their mouths!  :-)
>
>At one point we saw a juvenile wobbegong lying next to a rocky outcrop with
>a Port Jackson swimming around its head.  There were plenty of male Eastern
>Blue Groupers coming up to us to be patted, a couple of largish Kingfish
>looking for breakfast along the reef wall; a porcupinefish; blue damsels;
>scores of Ladder-fin Pomfrets close to the seafloor where they formed a sort
>of carpet; seapike; yellowtail; those big, black boggle-eyed leatherjackets
>that always seem to hang around n pairs; a porcupinefish; wrasse; and - at
>different places - two giant Cuttlefish, both of which looked, judging by
>their grey appearance and general slothfullness, (not one of them tried to
>attack Julian!) to be on their last legs (or tentacles, or whatever!).
>
>We're still trying to identify a large mollusc, one with a small shell and a
>huge nobbly mantle with two antenna sticking up in front.  :-)
>
>It was 65-minutes of absolute delight and a great start to the day!  :-)
>
>Strike